After a falling in love with the property's online listing back in 2009, Chris and Liecia attended a busy open home. At the time, the government had just introduced a booster payment for the first home owner grant. The bonus sought to combat the effects of the global financial crisis, and contributed to changing the demographic trend in a number of suburbs.

From that first inspection the couple recognised great potential for the house on Awabakal country.

"Right away we could feel the story of the families who lived there before us," Chris says.

As they began setting down roots, the young couple were joined by Zephyr, their English staffy. Back then, there was no grand plan for the garden. They just started working on the existing veggie patch and, before they knew it, they had five raised beds.

Now, three kids later, the yard houses eight chooks, a pond of striped marsh frogs, guinea pigs (used for mowing) and a flow hive full of honeybees. The family's favourite home-grown produce includes snow peas, raspberries and carrots.

Chris attributes his green thumb to his maternal grandparents who ran a wholesale nursery on the Central Coast. When he visited during school holidays, a young Chris was put to work by his Pop. Tasks usually involved weeding and potting seedlings.

Those skills have come in handy, and now, when the season is right and everything goes to plan, the family can pick a basket full of backyard delights daily.

The passion to grow produce was prompted by a desire to know where their food came from. Concern about wasteful packaging and food miles has also provided motivation.

In addition to being a rich food source, the backyard has become an attractive space to entertain. On winter nights the family enjoy sitting around the firepit. In warmer months, the back deck hosts barbecues.

With food pivotal to the family's lifestyle, it is unsurprising to hear that guests are invariably drawn to the kitchen. At its centre stands an old butcher's block taken from a working shop. It belonged to the previous owners, who were moving overseas and had to leave it behind. Chris and Liecia say that if you look closely, you can see where cleavers have left their marks over the years.

Adjacent to the kitchen centrepiece is a fully functional Robert Gibson wood fire stove. Made in Newcastle, the brand was very popular in the early 1900s, and the unrestored original transports diners to a rustic cottage from a simpler time.

With a compact home and yard, space is a luxury. A few years ago, the couple enclosed the verandah to create a sun room, which has since become a parents' retreat off the master bedroom. Liecia has a desk for sewing and craft at one end, and Chris often works from home at the other. They joke that they are constantly decluttering, but reluctant to throw things away.

During renovations the pair ripped up some old Baltic pine floorboards, which were repurposed into an outdoor bench seat. In the hall is an old timber ladder hanging across coat hooks, creating clever shelving for family photos, flowers and candles.

On the back deck sits a dining table built out of an old sliding door that came from the original dining room.

The family's waste-not, want-not philosophy extends to the garden. Maximising space and sunlight has seen pots of blueberries grow on top of the cubby house and rosemary and lemon balm planted on the verge.

Not an inch of space has been wasted, and the family are very conscious of "closing the loop" when it comes to their waste. Any food waste not sent to the chooks is composted.

As impressive as their garden yield may be, the family say the most exciting thing has been watching the past decade of evolution and observing balance in their ecosystem.

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